BENTON — The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois has granted summary judgment to the federal government in a woman's medical negligence lawsuit involving a robot-assisted hysterectomy.
District Judge David Herndon entered an order May 22 agreeing that the plaintiff had not exhausted the required administrative procedures prior to filing her lawsuit.
“Clearly, plaintiff never intended to use the administrative process as it was contemplated by the law and federal regulations… plaintiff was given multiple chances to submit the proper documentation and fully exhaust her administrative remedies, to which she ignored her opportunities,” Herndon wrote.
Terri Dawson sued Memorial Hospital of Carbondale as a subsidiary of Southern Illinois Healthcare and Intuitive Surgical Inc. for claims of negligence and “negligent infliction of emotional distress” after she had a robot-assisted hysterectomy in April 2014 performed by Dr. Woo Sohn, an employee of Shawnee Health Services and Development Corp.
Dawson claims she went back to the hospital with pain after the procedure and had to have hernia repair surgery because a CT scan showed “a small bowel loop herniating through the abdominal wall.” Dawson alleged the doctor who performed the hernia repair surgery said the bowel loop “was a possible herniation through the site of [the hysterectomy] surgery.” Dawson sought $3 million in damages.
According to background information in the ruling, the government filed for summary judgment arguing Dawson failed to exhaust and comply with the administrative claims process, claiming despite multiple requests via letters and phone calls to Dawson’s attorney, Carla Aikens, the Department of Health and Human Services was never provided with evidence that Aikens had authority on behalf of Dawson.
Herndon noted in the order that the court did not understand why, after the alleged multiple phone calls between the attorney and HHS, the attorney never asked if all documents or evidence had been received. Dawson claimed that the multiple phone calls served as proof that Aikens had authority.
“To assert that evidence of Ms. Aikens’ authority to submit a claim form on behalf of plaintiff Dawson was not requested by HHS in its follow up letter borders on a lie to this Court,” Herndon wrote.
A footnote in the ruling states “In addressing Ms. Aikens in the denial letter, HHS even calls plaintiff Dawson the 'ostensible client' of Ms. Aikens, further proving that the matter never had the opportunity to be fully reviewed.”
Herndon noted that the intent of the administrative process is to “ease court congestion and promote more efficient settlement”, which was frustrated by Ms. Aikens’ failure to comply with the administrative claims process frustrated the purpose of the exhaustion requirement.”
The order granted summary judgment to the U.S., dismissing claims against it.